The small streams that watered these valleys were not suitable for large-scale
irrigation projects. With so little fertile farmland or fresh water for irrigation,
Greece was never able to support a large population. Historians estimate that no
more than a few million people lived in ancient Greece at any given time. Even this
small population could not expect the land to support a life of luxury. A desire for
more living space, grassland for raising livestock, and adequate farmland may have
been factors that motivated the Greeks to seek new sites for colonies.
The Climate Climate was the third important environmental influence on Greek
civilization. Greece has a varied climate, with temperatures averaging 48 degrees
Fahrenheit in the winter and 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. In ancient times,
these moderate temperatures supported an outdoor life for many Greek citizens.
Men spent much of their leisure time at outdoor public events. They met often to
discuss public issues, exchange news, and take an active part in civic life.
Analyzing Causes
In what ways
did Greece’s location by the sea and
its mountainous
land affect its
development?
Mycenaean Civilization Develops
As Chapter 3 explained, a large wave of Indo-Europeans migrated from the
Eurasian steppes to Europe, India, and Southwest Asia. Some of the people who
settled on the Greek mainland around 2000 B.C. were later known as Mycenaeans.
The name came from their leading city, Mycenae (my•SEE•nee).
Mycenae was located in southern Greece on a steep, rocky ridge and surrounded
by a protective wall more than 20 feet thick. The fortified city of Mycenae could
withstand almost any attack. From Mycenae, a warrior-king ruled the surrounding
villages and farms. Strong rulers controlled the areas around other Mycenaean
cities, such as Tiryns and Athens. These kings dominated Greece from about 1600
to 1100 B.C.
Black Sea
42°N
Mycenaean Greece, c. 1250 B.C.
Mycenaean Greece
Mycenaean city
Other city
Trade routes
Battle
HI TTI TE
EMPI RE
Troy
A NA TOLIA
Lesbos
Aegean
Sea
GRE E C E
Ionian
Sea
Sicily
Orchomenos
Gla
Thebes
Mycenae
Euboea
Chios
Athens
Samos
Tiryns
Miletus
Peloponnesus
Pylos
Rhodes
16°E
Crete
GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER:
Interpreting Maps
1. Location Where was the center of the
Mycenaean Civilization located?
2. Movement Based on the map, how
did Mycenaean traders conduct most
of their trade?
34°N
Cyprus
Knossos
Mediterranean
Sea
0
24°E
0
100 Miles
200 Kilometers
32°E
EGYPT
124
Recognizing
Effects
How did
contact with the
Minoans affect
Mycenaean culture?
Contact with Minoans Sometime after
1500 B.C., through either trade or war, the
Mycenaeans came into contact with the
Minoan civilization. From their contact
with the Minoans, the Mycenaeans saw
the value of seaborne trade. Mycenaean
traders soon sailed throughout the eastern
Mediterranean, making stops at Aegean
islands, coastal towns in Anatolia, and
ports in Syria, Egypt, Italy, and Crete.
The Minoans also influenced the
Mycenaeans in other ways. The Mycenaeans adapted the Minoan writing system to the Greek language and decorated
vases with Minoan designs. The Minoaninfluenced culture of Mycenae formed the
core of Greek religious practice, art,
politics, and literature. Indeed, Western
civilization has its roots in these two
early Mediterranean civilizations.
The Trojan War During the 1200s B.C.,
the Mycenaeans fought a ten-year war against Troy, an independent trading city
located in Anatolia. According to legend, a Greek army besieged and destroyed
Troy because a Trojan prince had kidnapped Helen, the beautiful wife of a
Greek king.
For many years, historians thought that the legendary stories told of the Trojan
War were totally fictional. However, excavations conducted in northwestern
Turkey during the 1870s by German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann suggested that the stories of the Trojan War might have been based on real cities,
people, and events. Further archaeological studies conducted in the 20th century
support Schliemann’s findings. Although the exact nature of the Trojan War
remains unclear, this attack on Troy was almost certainly one of the last Mycenaean
battle campaigns.
Greek stories
tell of their army’s
capture of the legendary city of Troy
by hiding soldiers
in a hollow
wooden horse.
▲
Greek Culture Declines Under the Dorians
Not long after the Trojan War, Mycenaean civilization collapsed. Around 1200 B.C.,
sea raiders attacked and burned many Mycenaean cities. According to tradition, a
new group of people, the Dorians (DAWR•ee•uhnz), moved into the war-torn
countryside. The Dorians spoke a dialect of Greek and may have been distant
relatives of the Bronze Age Greeks.
The Dorians were far less advanced than the Mycenaeans. The economy
collapsed and trade eventually came to a standstill soon after their arrival. Most
important to historians, Greeks appear to have temporarily lost the art of writing
during the Dorian Age. No written record exists from the 400-year period between
1150 and 750 B.C. As a result, little is known about this period of Greek history.
Epics of Homer Lacking writing, the Greeks of this time learned about their
history through the spoken word. According to tradition, the greatest storyteller
was a blind man named Homer. Little is known of his personal life. Some historians
believe that Homer composed his epics, narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds,
sometime between 750 and 700 B.C. The Trojan War forms the backdrop for one of
Homer’s great epic poems, the Iliad.
Classical Greece 125
The heroes of the Iliad are warriors: the fierce Greek Achilles
(uh•KIHL•eez) and the courageous and noble Hector of Troy. In the
following dramatic excerpt, Hector’s wife begs him not to fight Achilles:
PRIMARY SOURCE
“My dear husband, your warlike spirit will be your death. You've no
compassion for your infant child, for me, your sad wife, who before long
will be your widow. . . . As for me, it would be better, if I'm to lose you,
to be buried in the ground. . . .”
Great Hector . . . replied, “Wife, all this concerns me, too. But I’d be
disgraced, dreadfully shamed . . . , if I should slink away from war, like a
coward. [F]or I have learned always to be brave, to fight alongside Trojans
at the front, striving to win great fame for my father, for myself.”
HOMER, the Iliad (translated by Ian Johnston)
Hector’s response to his wife gives insight into the Greek heroic
ideal of aretē (ar•uh•TAY), meaning virtue and excellence. A Greek
could display this ideal on the battlefield in combat or in athletic
contests on the playing field.
Greeks Create Myths The Greeks developed a rich set of myths, or traditional
stories, about their gods. The works of Homer and another epic, Theogony by
Hesiod, are the source of much of Greek mythology. Through the myths, the Greeks
sought to understand the mysteries of nature and the power of human passions.
Myths explained the changing of the seasons, for example.
Greeks attributed human qualities, such as love, hate, and jealousy, to their
gods. The gods quarreled and competed with each other constantly. However,
unlike humans, the gods lived forever. Zeus, the ruler of the gods, lived on Mount
Olympus with his wife, Hera. Hera was often jealous of Zeus’ relationships with
other women. Athena, goddess of wisdom, was Zeus’ daughter and his favorite
child. The Greeks thought of Athena as the guardian of cities, especially of
Athens, which was named in her honor. You will learn about Athens and other
cities in Section 2.
SECTION
1
This is a
marble sculpture
of Polyphemus—a
cyclops, or oneeyed monster—
who appears in
another of
Homer’s epics,
the Odyssey.
▲
ASSESSMENT
TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
• Mycenaean
• Trojan War
• Dorian
• Homer
• epic
• myth
USING YOUR NOTES
MAIN IDEAS
CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING
2. Which of the cultures on your
3. What impact did nearness to
6. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS How did the physical geography
chart do you think contributed
the sea have on the
the most to Greek culture?
development of Greece?
Explain.
4. What aspects of culture did the
Mycenaeans adopt from the
Culture Contribution
Minoans?
Minoan
Writingg System:
y
pottery designs
Mycenaean
Dorian
5. Why were the epics of
importance to the Greeks of
the Dorian period?
of Greece cause Greek-speaking peoples to develop
separate, isolated communities?
7. ANALYZING CAUSES Other than the explanation offered in
the legend, why do you think the Greeks went to war
with Troy?
8. MAKING INFERENCES The Dorian period is often called
Greece’s Dark Age. Why do you think this is so?
9. WRITING ACTIVITY CULTURAL INTERACTION Write an
expository essay explaining why the Greek epics and
myths are so well known and studied in today’s society.
CONNECT TO TODAY WRITING EXPLANATIONS
Many names and phrases from this period of Greek history have been absorbed into the
English language. Use library resources to find examples, such as Achilles heel, Homeric, and
Trojan horse. Write a brief explanation of each example.
126 Chapter 5